


time, curious time

by crownsandbirds



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25939411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownsandbirds/pseuds/crownsandbirds
Summary: It took one mercenary and his blank-eyed, curious stare, his almost-not-silver ring and a little over five years to finally touch the Mockingbird.Yuri sits down in front of the vanity mirror and lifts his hand up so it catches precisely in the stream of sunlight dripping from the open window. His ring reflects the soft white of early morning, and shines across the floor.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 109





	time, curious time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ilia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilia/gifts).



Yuri wakes up with the dawn. 

He leaves Byleth on the bed. There are mornings where he lingers, where he allows his body to relax for a brief fraction of time, where he offers his porcelain skin to adoring kisses and to warm touches. This is not one of such mornings. He wakes up with his heartbeat fluttering like hummingbird's wings, as if his soul is trying to leave his body through his ribcage. It's an uncomfortable, stifling feeling, shackling and heavy. The blankets weigh where they press against his naked skin - he shrugs them off, and moves away from Byleth's arms, and sits up. 

He can breathe easily almost immediately. He opens the windows to let sunlight in, to let the cool early breeze thread itself in between his lilac strands of hair. It's pleasant, very much so. For a moment, he feels like he could spread empty-boned wings, feathers light and soft skimming the small of his back, and fly away somewhere. Anywhere. Fly over the ocean, the mountains. 

He gets lost in that train of thought for a while as he appreciates the oncoming sunrise, and how it paints the sky a myriad of beautiful colors. 

Byleth stirs, and Yuri moves away. 

It's soothing, this dance. It reassures Yuri that he can still leave, if he wants - that Byleth won't trap him, or shackle him, or cut off his wings and cage him, a bloody, broken, and captured mockingbird behind golden bars, a songbird that will never sing again. Many have tried to do so before, and none has succeeded. Yuri stripped them of their wallets, their precious gems, their love and their lives. He will never be a treasure to be guarded away for safekeeping amidst a dragon's hoard. He is not meant to be stolen, or seduced, or robbed. He was handmade to be adored and cherished and free. 

That he made the commitment with Byleth is that: a commitment, an agreement, a sign of mutual love. He never handed over the keys to his heart. He merely offered Byleth a way in, if he so desired, and that Yuri could easily shut off whenever he wanted it. 

That he seems to never want it is merely a detail that his husband needs not learn. 

Regardless, he moves away. A bird is in the habit of flying. 

He cares little for the clothes they have scattered around the floor of their chambers. He has no need for them; when he steps in front of his vanity mirror, made especially for his use, he gazes, satisfied, at his own reflection. At the gorgeous line of his waist, the smooth curve of his back, the span of his birdlike ribcage when he breathes in, the dip of his delicate collarbones. Touched by the Goddess, indeed - and by luck, to have escaped all his battles with minor scars. He did not, however, leave his lovemaking unscathed: there are bruises on his hips, on the insides of his thighs, trailing up the length of his neck. At those, he smiles all the wider. They are proof that he is loved, that he is intensely desired. The red lines marking the broad expanse of Byleth's shoulders and back are proof of Yuri's sharp, vicious desire in turn, as are the bitemarks on the skin of his throat. 

They have been married for a while, and this dance of theirs never gets any less interesting by repetition. With experience, with learning, they make it better each turn. Yuri had never been in the habit of letting a man have him for more than a single night, no matter what they thought of offering him. Pearls, rubies, crystal necklaces, a diamond earring in one memorable occasion. All of those he gave away as soon as he reached Abyss and found people in a much less privileged position than him. None of those meant anything to him, neither were they enough to earn another sunset of pleasure with him. 

And it took one mercenary and his blank-eyed, curious stare, his almost-not-silver ring and a little over five years to finally touch the Mockingbird. 

He sits down in front of the vanity mirror and lifts his hand up so it catches precisely in the stream of sunlight dripping from the open window. His ring reflects the soft white of early morning, and shines across the floor. 

Byleth stirs again. Yuri smiles, and continues to admire the ring. 

A soft questioning noise. 

"It matches my eyes," Yuri says simply in lieu of an explanation. He takes it off, touches it with his lips, bites a little at them before sliding it back on. 

"It does," Byleth agrees, voice rough. It sends golden pleasure down Yuri's spine. "My strange bird."

Yuri scoffs prettily, turns his back on him, and picks his usual makeup brush. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

He sets on to the task of getting himself ready for the day. It's familiar, and soothing in its own way, and his movements are smooth with the fluidity that comes with routine. He doesn't bother with putting on clothes - he enjoys knowing Byleth is looking at him, appreciating the view, and he smirks at his husband from the mirror and continues applying the fine pink eyeshadow on his eyelids. 

"You should buy me a necklace," he says, teasing and light. "Or at least a pair of earrings. I've received far more than those for someone to be granted the honor of having me by their side during a party. I got a real set of black pearls once, even."

Byleth only continues to stare at him with that peculiar, almost unreadable gaze. "I'm sure you did. Where are all of those? In the heap at Abyss?"

Yuri laughs, bright like windchimes touched by the sea breeze. "How very astute. No, my dear, they are probably scattered around in the hands of many pickpockets and petty thieves."

"Because you handed all of it over to them. Where is the ring I gave you?"

Yuri sighs, and he wants for it to sound heavy with resignation, but it comes out similar to a purr of satisfaction. "Right here, husband mine," he answers, and kisses his wedding band. Byleth kisses his, and smiles that mysterious, soft smile at him. 

Yuri starts tracing his eyelids with the glint of silver eyeliner. It makes his lashes glint as if his irises are silver coins. "I cannot fool you for a single second, can I, darling?"

"You can try," Byleth says easily, and shifts around to lay on his stomach on the bed. 

Yuri laughs again, and it fills the room with brightness. "You never fall for any of my little tricks," he pouts, and finishes his makeup. He combs his hair with a brush and it falls soft down to the middle of his back. He's been letting it grow since he got married. He enjoys the way Byleth touches it. As soon as he sits back on the bed, there's a strong arm wrapping around his naked waist, and a warm mouth prying his lips open and making an offering of their dangerous sweetness. Paradise, perhaps. It's so easy to lean into it, so natural to allow his body to go limp as he knows Byleth will keep him up. As he knows he's safe, maybe safer than he's ever felt his entire life. This familiar taste, this familiar touch, these known hands caressing his back and touching his thighs. 

"I fell for you," Byleth whispers, then, a breath of warmth against his lips. "Isn't that enough?"

Yuri smiles, sharp. "I suppose it is," he says, and then sits on top of his husband's lap and seeks his own happiness in the comfort of Byleth's arms. 

  
  



End file.
